PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Browner's played the game on both sides of the border

Saturday

Jul 26, 2014 at 4:44 PMJul 26, 2014 at 4:48 PM

One-time Calgary Stampeder Brandon Browner says the CFL and the NFL present different types of challenges.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

How does the Canadian game translate to the U.S.?

Brandon Browner would know.

The cornerback, who signed with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent in mid-March, spent four seasons (2007-2010) with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, earning all-star honors (three times) and contributing to a Grey Cup championship (2008), prior to signing with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks in 2011.

“They had challenges in the CFL. You’ve got to cover a guy with a 10-yard head start (because forward motion is allowed) and you’ve still got to press this guy so there’s challenges up there and there’s challenges here.”

Browner’s challenge now comes in adapting to a new defensive system after three seasons in Seattle.

“I’m getting pretty close,” said Browner, “but I’m not where I want to be. I’m going to keep building on day by day.”

With the four-game suspension he must serve at the outset of the regular season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, Browner will actually have an extended period of time to grasp the Pats’ defense.

Fans flock to Foxboro: Saturday’s practice attracted 13,819 fans, a total the Patriots reported as “one of the biggest crowds ever” at camp.

Shell game ends: After two days in shells – helmets and shoulder pads – the heavy gear came on at Patriots training camp on Saturday.

The team conducted its first fully-padded practice of the summer.

“I think it benefits us (on defense) because me as a fresh corner you’ve got pads on and things like that and it slows the guys down on the other side of the ball,” said Browner.

Happy birthday to Danny: Practice concluded with Danny Nickerson, the Foxboro boy who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last October, being led out to the field where the Patriots serenaded him with a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

The young man actually celebrated his sixth birthday on Friday with trips to Legoland and Gillette, where he met Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Thompson tweaked: Kenbrell Thompkins appeared to tweak his left knee while stumbling to the turf on a pass pattern late in practice and did not return.

On the positive side, the wide receiver was not carted off the field and appeared none the worse for wear as he exited the field at the end of practice.